Anne of Green Gables
I downloaded the complete Anne Shirley collection on my phone so that I'd have something easy and familiar to read while feeding my son. It helped that I was able to get the whole series for $1. Though I then discovered that the "complete" series only includes 6 of the 8 books for some reason, so I'll have to buy those other two when I get to them. But I've been meaning to re-read these books for a while, now, and this seemed like a good way to go about it.
I don't remember having a deep connection to these books, the way so many other girls and women do. I read them in the 7th grade on the suggestion of a friend. Well, actually, I tore through them as fast as I could. And I liked them well enough. But then I moved on to other things. Mostly fantasy.
I was surprised by how well the books stood up to my memory of them. There's always a danger, revisiting a book from your childhood, that you will cringe at your former self. But this book was even better than I remembered it being. The language is flowing and idealized, but it floats on some very real pain, grounded in some very hard experiences. And that makes it that much more beautiful and touching.
Anne Shirley is irrepressible. I loved her from the first moment she appeared on the page, full of life and hopes and dreams. She's been through the wringer, but she's a stubborn optimist, willing the world to become as wonderful as she wants it to be. She casts a spell everywhere she goes, making everyone fall in love with her, often against their will.
This is just a beautiful, simple book about a girl looking for love and finding it. A girl with high ambitions that you have no doubt she will achieve. It was a pleasure watching her grow up in these pages, and I'm so excited to watch the rest of her life unfold over the course of the series.
I don't remember having a deep connection to these books, the way so many other girls and women do. I read them in the 7th grade on the suggestion of a friend. Well, actually, I tore through them as fast as I could. And I liked them well enough. But then I moved on to other things. Mostly fantasy.
I was surprised by how well the books stood up to my memory of them. There's always a danger, revisiting a book from your childhood, that you will cringe at your former self. But this book was even better than I remembered it being. The language is flowing and idealized, but it floats on some very real pain, grounded in some very hard experiences. And that makes it that much more beautiful and touching.
Anne Shirley is irrepressible. I loved her from the first moment she appeared on the page, full of life and hopes and dreams. She's been through the wringer, but she's a stubborn optimist, willing the world to become as wonderful as she wants it to be. She casts a spell everywhere she goes, making everyone fall in love with her, often against their will.
This is just a beautiful, simple book about a girl looking for love and finding it. A girl with high ambitions that you have no doubt she will achieve. It was a pleasure watching her grow up in these pages, and I'm so excited to watch the rest of her life unfold over the course of the series.
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